Katy Perry
Katheryn Hudson (born as Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson), who is better known by her stage name Katy Perry, is an American Singer-Songwritter, Musician, and Actress from Santa Barbra, California Early life Katy Perry was born on October 25, 1984 in Santa Barbra, California. She is the second child of two pastors, Mary Hudson (née Perry) and Keith Hudson and has an older sister and a younger brother. Perry's Evangelical mother grew up in Southern California and had "a tempestuous first marriage in Zimbabwe." And her father was West Coast scenester in the 1960s. Perry's heritage is of Portuguese and German ancestry based on her mother's side. While Katy Perry was growing up, she became a part of her parent's ministry and sang in church from ages 9 to 17. She had to follow very strict Christian rules and only befriend a certain group of people. "Growing up I wasn't really allowed to listen to a whole lot of what my mom would call, secular music, and so I didn't have a whole lot of references as far as like, when the producer I was doing my demos was with was like, Okay so, who would you want to work with if you could work with anybody? I was like, I really have no idea." —Katy Perry She grew up listening to gospel music and was not allowed to listen to what her mother called secular music. Perry attended Christian schools and camps. As a child, Perry learned how to dance in a recreation building in Santa Barbara. She was taught by seasoned dancers and began with swing, Lindy Hop, and jitterbug. She took her GED after her freshman year at Dos Pueblos High School and decided to leave school to pursue a career in music. Perry initially started singing "because I was at that point in my childhood where I was copycatting my sister and everything she did." Her sister practiced with cassette tapes, and Perry took the tapes herself when her sister was not around. She rehearsed the songs and performed it to her parents, who suggested she should take voice lessons. She grabbed the opportunity and began taking lessons at age nine to 16. She enrolled in at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, and studied Italian opera for a short time. Recording career 2001–07: Career beginnings At the age of 15, Perry's singing in church attracted the attention of rock veterans from Nashville, Tennessee, who brought her there to polish her writing skills. In Nashville, Perry started recording demos and was taught by country music veterans on how to craft songs and play guitar. Perry signed to the Christian music label Red Hill, under which she recorded her first album at the age of 15. Performing as Katy Hudson, she released the self-titled Gospel-rock album in 2001. The album was unsuccessful, however, after the label ceased operations at the end of 2001. Katy Hudson to Katy Perry She later changed her surname to Perry, her mother's maiden name, because "Katy Hudson" was too close to film actress Kate Hudson. At the age of 17, Perry left her home for Los Angeles, where she worked with Glen Ballard on an album for record label Island. The album was due for release in 2005, but Billboard reported it also went nowhere. Perry was dropped by Island Def Jam Music Group. Some of Perry and Ballard's collaborations included Box, Diamonds and Long Shot, were posted on her official MySpace page. Simple, one of the songs she recorded with Ballard, was released on the soundtrack to the 2005 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Perry signed to Columbia Records in 2004. However, the label was not amenable with her vision, not putting her in the "driver's seat". Instead, one of Columbia's ideas was to pair Perry with the record production team The Matrix, who was working on an album, to serve as its female vocalist. Although the album was later shelved, she caught the attention of the music press: Her burgeoning music career led to her being named "The Next Big Thing" in October 2004 by Blender magazine. With no album project ongoing, Perry began recording her own. Eighty percent completed, however, Columbia decided not to finish it and dropped her off the label. While waiting to find another label, she worked in an independent A&R company called Taxi Music. In 2006, Perry was featured in the tail-end of the video to P.O.D.'s single "Goodbye for Now". She made a cameo appearance in Carbon Leaf's video,"Learn to Fly", and in Gym Class Heroes' video, "Cupid's Chokehold", playing the eventual love interest of lead singer Travis McCoy. Her songs eventually captured the attention of Virgin Records CEO Jason Flom, then head of Capitol Music Group, who signed her to Capitol Music in early 2007. 2008–09: One of the Boys and MTV Unplugged After signing to Capitol Records, Perry began recording tracks for her official mainstream debut album, One of the Boys, and establishing her image was one of the immediate concerns of her management. A campaign was started in November 2007 with the release of the video to Ur So Gay, aimed at introducing her to the music market. A digital EP led by Ur So Gay was later released to create online buzz. This was a successful move that resulted in bringing Perry to the attention of Madonna, who mentioned her on KISS FM and KRQ's JohnJay & Rich morning show in Arizona. On March 10, 2008, she appeared as herself on the ABC Family television series, Wildfire, on the episode "Life's Too Short". While the buzz over Perry was building, she went on the next step of promoting the album, undertaking a two-month tour of radio stations. The album's official lead single, I Kissed a Girl, was released on May 6, 2008. With the song climbing atop the charts, Perry embarked on the annual Warped Tour music festival, which her management used to "establish her as a credible performer and make sure she wasn't seen as just a one-hit wonder." The single was a commercial success, peaking at number one for seven weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. It has since become a major worldwide hit, topping charts in 30 countries, including Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. On June 12, 2008, Perry appeared as herself on the daytime soap opera, The Young and the Restless, and poses for the cover to the June 2008 issue of the fictional magazine Restless Style. One of the Boys was released on June 17, 2008 to mixed critical reviews. The album has reached number nine on the Billboard 200, and has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Perry released her second single, Hot N Cold, which became her second top three single in dozens of countries around the world, including the United States where it reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as topping the charts in Germany, Canada, and Denmark. After Perry wrapped up her appearance at the Warped Tour, she went on tours in Europe. She later launched her first headlining tour, the Hello Katy Tour, in January 2009. I Kissed a Girl earned Perry a nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 2009 Grammy Awards. Perry was nominated in five categories at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, including Best New Artist and Best Female Video, but lost to Britney Spears. She won Best New Act at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards, which she co-hosted, and Best International Female Artist at the 2009 BRIT Awards. On February 9, 2009, both "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n Cold" were certified three-time platinum by Recording Industry Association of America for individual digital sales of over three million. The Matrix's self-titled debut album, which features Perry, was later released via the team's label, Let's Hear It, during Perry's solo tour. When the release date was scheduled, I Kissed a Girl had been charting well. Matrix member Lauren Christy spoke to Perry about the decision, but she wanted to hold the release until the fourth single of One of the Boys had been dispatched. Despite their communication, The Matrix was released on January 27, 2009, via iTunes Store. In December 2008, Perry apologized to British singer Lily Allen for remarks in which she called herself a "skinnier version" of her, saying she meant it as a joke. Allen retaliated and told a British radio station that she "happened to know for a fact that she Perry was an American version" of her because their record company needed "to find something controversial and 'kooky'" like her. On May 16, 2009, Perry performed at the opening ceremony of the annual Life Ball in Vienna, Austria. In June 2009, lawyers acting for Katy Perry opposed the recent trademark of Australian fashion designer Katie Perry who uses her own name to market loungewear. Some media outlets reported this as a lawsuit, which Katy Perry has denied on her blog. Katie Perry the designer reports on her blog that at a hearing with IP Australia on 10 July 2009, the singer's lawyers withdrew their opposition to the trademark. During the summer of 2009 Perry filmed a cameo appearance for Get Him to the Greek, her scene, in which she kisses her future finance Russel Brand was cut, and does not appear in the final film. Discussing the issue with MTV Perry hypothesized there may have been some fear that seeing her and Russel Brand make out would have taken viewers out of the experience. In 2009, Perry was featured on two singles: a remix of Colorado-based band 3OH!3's song "Starstrukk" in August (the idea for the collaboration came after Perry's tour that featured 3OH!3 as the supporting act). The song was released over iTunes on September 8, 2009; and "If We Ever Meet Again", the fourth single off Timbaland's album Shock Value II in December. In October 2009, MTV Unplugged revealed that Perry was one of the artists to perform for them, and that she would be releasing a live album of the performance, including two new tracks, Brick By Brick and Fountains of Wayne cover Hackensack. The album was released on November 17, and includes both a CD and a DVD. 2010–present: Teenage Dream and film debut Perry's new album is titled Teenage Dream and was released August 24, 2010 in North America and August 30 worldwide. The first single from the album is titled California Gurls. Capitol Records sent the song to U.S. radio on May 7, 2010. The single took only four weeks to reach the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the fastest rising single from a Capitol Records artist since Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe" in 1967. On July 22, Perry released the cover art for Teenage Dream, a painting by Will Cotton, which resembles the shots of Perry in the California Gurls video where she is lying naked on the cotton candy clouds. Perry also revealed that the booklet of the physical edition of the album will smell like cotton candy. On July 22, 2010, the album's second single Teenage Dream was leaked onto the web. It was officially released on iTunes the following day. On August 3, Not Like the Movies was released on iTunes as the first of three planned promotional singles. A week later on August 10, the second planned single, Circle the Drain, was released on iTunes. The following week, on August 17, the album's final promotional single, E.T. was released on iTunes. Perry has announced her own fragrance to be released in autumn of this year, named "Purr". It will come in a cat-shaped bottle, and will be available through Nordstrom stores. Perry is set to make her film début, starring in the 2011 film The Smurfs Movie, as Smurfette, alongside Neil Patrick Harris, Jonathan Winters, Alan Cumming, and George Lopez. Katy Perry appeared at the 2010 MTV VMAs on September 12, 2010. On September 14, she returned to her old high school, where she performed a short set for the school's students. Perry performed a version of her song Hot N Cold with Elmo from Sesame Street, which was originally scheduled to run on the 41st-season premiere of the educational children's program on September 27, 2010. Four days before the airing, Sesame Workshop announced, "In light of the feedback we've received on the Katy Perry music video ... we have decided we will not air the segment on the television broadcast of Sesame Street, which is aimed at preschoolers. Katy Perry fans will still be able to view the video on You Tube." The main reason was that parents complained about what appeared to be a great amount of cleavage shown by her dress. However, Perry was actually wearing a flesh-colored mesh that went all the way to her neck. Awards Discography Performances Related Links